Endobronchial Ultrasound Bronchoscopy to the Heart of the Matter

Abstract

Endobronchial ultrasound has been one of the success stories of the last decade, and the utility of the procedure continues to expand. Originally, it was developed for the staging and diagnosis of lung cancer, but its use rapidly expanded to other malignancies and even benign disease. We present the case of a patient originally referred with suspected endocarditis who was found to have a mass involving the right ventricle and the pulmonary outflow tract. Endobronchial ultrasound-guided biopsy was used to obtain a tissue diagnosis from the cardiac mass.